Adding insult to injury

It is an outrage to hear that the RSU 5 Board of Directors is congratulating itself on a proposed budget increase of “only” 5.15 percent for 2017. This will (if approved) follow an increase of almost 8 percent for 2016. This most recent in the never-ending series of budget/tax hikes comes during a period of virtually no inflation and wage increases averaging only about 2 percent in Maine.

Adding (ludicrous) insult to serious injury, the track-and-field advocates have come to the taxpayers with tin cup in hand, having evidently failed to find enough private money for that gold-plated boondoggle, and stating that students are leaving the district for more attractive athletic facilities. Seriously? Come on. How generous that the track will be available for the public to walk on. How little self-awareness these so-called “advocates” have.

Finally, and most important, who will advocate for the taxpayers? It is up to us as individuals. Get involved or the empire-builders and “advocates” will continue to pick us clean.